Short communicationAntioxidant phenolic compounds isolated from wild Pyrus ussuriensis Maxim. fruit peels and leaves
Introduction
Pear (Pyrus spp.) is one kind of the most important worldwide fruit. The genus Pyrus belongs to the subfamily Pomoideae of family Rosaceae (Bao et al., 2007). Pear fruits have also been used as a traditional folk medicine in China and Korea due to their antitussive, anticonstipative, antiinflammatory, and diuretic activities (Lee et al., 2011). Many studies have reported on the chemical components in different pear cultivars, phenolic compounds in particular (Cho et al., 2013). Plant phenolics have drawn increasing attention due to their potent antioxidant properties and their marked effects in the prevention of various oxidative stress associated diseases such as cancer (Dai & Mumper, 2010) and chronic diseases, including CVD (cardiovascular disease), type II diabetes, and impaired cognitive function (Del Rio et al., 2013). The phenolic compounds are also known as antioxidants. Furthermore, antioxidants have long been recognized to have protective functions against oxidative damage, and are associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases (Shen, Jin, Xiao, Lu, & Bao, 2009).
Pyrus ussuriensis Maxim. belongs to the genus Pyrus and has been planted in Northern China (Cao, Tian, Gao, & Liu, 2012). This fruit is an important plant material for research of the chemical composition and antioxidant activities, because it has excellent flavor and drought-resistance capability and the fine disease-resistant characteristic. Furthermore, with the effects of antitussive, dissipating phlegm and diuretic activities, it has been commonly used as a traditional folk remedy in China for centuries (Peng, Cheng, Xie, & Yang, 2015). Previous studies reported the existence of phenolic compounds in pear skins, pear flowers, and other parts of pear trees. The pear peels and leaves have much higher and more varied phenolic contents than the flesh of the fruit (Lin & Harnly, 2008). Previous experiments also showed that the extracts from leaves and peels of the different parts of the pear had the highest antioxidant activity. In addition, leaves and peels from P. ussuriensis have been widely applied in medicine for constipation, heatstroke vomiting and diarrhea, edema, and mushroom poisoning in North Korea (Peng et al., 2015). The ethnomedicinal application importance of P. ussuriensis prompted us to investigate the phenolic constituents of the fruit peels and leaves and their association with antioxidant capacities. For this purpose, a bioassay-guided fractionation and purification process was carried out to isolate the antioxidant phenolic compounds.
Section snippets
General
The plants of P. ussuriensis were harvested from Changbai Mountain, Jilin, and identified by Prof. Ying Wu, College of Plant Sciences, Jilin University and a voucher sample (No. JLU 2012078) deposited in the laboratory herbarium. The fresh fruits were hand-peeled at about 3 mm thickness and the fruit peels (20 kg) were immediately stored at 4 °C until use. The fresh pear leaves (30 kg) were dried under shade and powdered prior to extraction. NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectra were taken in a
Isolation and identification of pure compounds
The methyl alcohol extracts were obtained from the pear peels and leaves and concentrated in vacuo. The crude residues were separated successively with petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, and then n-butanol into three soluble fractions, and the remaining aqueous extract. The antioxidant activity of these peels and leaves extracts was evaluated using DPPH scavenging method, and the ethyl acetate extracts were found to possess the best capacity (IC50 = 46.47 and 35.72 μg/mL, respectively). Accordingly,
Conclusions
The antioxidant effect is a common property of phenolics. At this work, we revealed that thirteen phenolic compounds obtained from pear peels and leaves also exert antioxidant activities. This is the first report about antioxidant compounds obtained from P. ussuriensis peels and leaves, and this paper reported for the first time the presence of compounds 3–12 in P. ussuriensis and their topical antioxidant activities. Our results may support and supplement the use of P. ussuriensis in the
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Professor Hartmut laatsch and Frisk Lissy in Georg-August-Universität Göttingen for the excellent technical assistance. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31470414, 31000149, 31100219); Natural Science Foundation of Jilin province (20140101126JC); Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (2012M510871, 2014T70282); The Reserve Candidates of National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (450091202302), Scientific
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These authors are joint first authors.